BILL NUMBER: AB 2478	CHAPTERED  09/12/00

	CHAPTER   409
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 12, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 11, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 22, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 24, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 3, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Strom-Martin

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 4790, 4792, 4793, 4794, and 4799.01 of
the Public Resources Code, relating to forest resources.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2478, Strom-Martin.  Forest resources.
   (1) Under existing law, the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection is authorized to enter into agreements and make loans to
improve the condition of forests.  The forestry advisory program
conducted by the department encourages forest resource improvements
and management through a program of technical assistance and advice.

   This bill would change the forestry advisory program to a forestry
assistance program, adding an emphasis on the financial and
educational assistance aspects of the existing program.
   (2) Existing law requires that certain funds be allocated each
year for agreements and loans devoted to forest land conservation or
fish and wildlife habitat improvements projects.
   This bill would eliminate that requirement.
   (3) Existing law provides for the allocation of available funds
among forest projects that produce the greatest public benefit.
   This bill would restrict the allocation of funding to that of the
amount expended in the 1999-2000 fiscal year until the completion,
review, and final approval of an updated management plan for the
Jackson Demonstration State Forest.
   (4) This bill would revise the definition of fish and wildlife
habitat improvements for purposes of the program and would make other
clarifying, nonsubstantive changes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 4790 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4790.  The Legislature finds and declares that:
   (a) Forest lands, while often managed to produce wood fiber for
building materials and paper manufacture, also provide public
benefits, including employment opportunities in both rural and urban
areas, renewable energy, protection and enhancement of air, water,
and soil resources, fish and wildlife habitat, and opportunities for
aesthetic and recreational enjoyment.
   (b) Historically, substantial areas of forest land were not
reforested or otherwise managed for optimum production of forest
resources following harvest operations, wildfires, unsuccessful
attempts to clear the land for other uses, or damage by insects,
disease, or other natural catastrophes.  As a result, an estimated
five million acres of public and private forest land in the state are
producing substantially less forest resources than their potential.
These areas are inadequately stocked with trees or are occupied by
damaged or diseased trees or species of less value for sawtimber and
other forest products.  Some lands also have suffered from or are
threatened with depletion by soil erosion.  Water quality and
quantity has suffered and fish habitats have also been adversely
affected.  In areas where forest regeneration has occurred, the
present forest stand would often produce significantly greater timber
supplies if thinning or other forest improvement investments were
made.
   (c) Future demand for timber supplies and other demands for forest
resources are likely to rise substantially.  Future supplies of
these renewable resources are presently estimated to decline for a
period and then to recover, but at a rate significantly slower than
the rate of increase in demand.
   (d) Wood waste products and tree or shrub species not normally
utilized to produce building materials can provide opportunities for
an alternative means to generate electrical energy or could be
converted to solid, gaseous, or liquid fuels for transport or
industrial use.  Future supplies of wood products not usable for
building materials, and, therefore potentially available for energy
production, will be increased if forest resource improvements are
made.
   (e) The forest efficiently captures and stores solar energy.  Wood
products can be produced with a significantly lower energy cost than
most competing substitutes.  This disparity is likely to increase in
the future.
   (f) A relatively small amount of forest land is currently being
reforested, other than pursuant to the stocking requirements of the Z'
berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 4511) of Part 2) applicable following timber harvesting.
Obstacles to private investments in reforesting or improving forest
lands include:  the extraordinarily long time required for such
investments to produce income; the risk of loss due to fire, insect,
or disease; lack of necessary forestry expertise or knowledge of the
potential benefits of improved forest resource management; the
difficulty of transferring capital invested in forest resource
improvements to other investment opportunities or otherwise using the
funds for other needs once the initial investment has been made; and
the fact that some forest resource investments, including erosion
control measures, may not produce any income recognizable to the
landowner.
   (g) Over one-half of the privately owned, commercial forest land
in the state is owned by nonindustrial landowners.  Forest resources
that can be provided by these lands will be increasingly important in
the future.  Yet the owners of these lands often lack forestry
expertise, economic incentive, or capital needed to make investments
to increase present and future availability of forest resource
benefits from their lands.
   (h) Investments in public and private forest land are essential if
adequate future timber supplies are to be available and if the
forest resource system of soil, air, water, and vegetative and animal
life is to be maintained in a productive condition for the future.
These investments will also lessen fire hazards and improve watershed
protection following catastrophic destruction of forests and other
vegetative cover by fire, wind, flood, insects, disease, and other
causes.
   (i) Failure to make the necessary investments will lead to higher
prices for increasingly scarce forest products, lower rural and urban
employment in the forest products and related industries and
businesses, and the loss or diminished value of soils and other
forest resources.
   (j) Forest resource improvements made pursuant to this chapter
serve a public purpose and will promote the health, welfare, and
economic security of the citizens of the state.
  SEC. 2.  Section 4792 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4792.  In furtherance of the purposes of this chapter, the
department is authorized to enter into agreements and make loans and
otherwise carry out the purposes of this chapter.  The forestry
assistance program conducted by the department shall encourage forest
resource improvements and otherwise facilitate good forest land
management through a program of financial, technical, and educational
assistance, as well as through applied research.  The purpose of
this program shall be to work cooperatively with private landowners,
particularly smaller nonindustrial landowners, to upgrade the
management of their lands, and, therefore, improve both the
productivity of the land and the degree of protection and enhancement
of the forest resource system as a whole.  The department is further
authorized to encourage and cooperate with efforts by the forestry
industry and federal government to improve the management of forest
lands within the state, particularly lands owned by nonindustrial
owners, through advisory services or other actions.  The director
shall work cooperatively with other private and public entities and
persons, including tree nursery operators, when carrying out this
part.
  SEC. 3.  Section 4793 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4793.  As used in this chapter:
   (a) "A county with high unemployment" means a county with an
annual unemployment rate, as reported by the Employment Development
Department, higher than the mean annual unemployment rate of "rate
adjustment counties" as defined pursuant to the Timber Yield Tax Law
(Part 18.5 (commencing with Section 38101) of Division 2 of the
Revenue and Taxation Code).
   (b) "Eligible landowner" means any person who meets the conditions
set forth in Sections 4797 and 4799.  Where ownership of forest land
and timber is not held by the same person, "landowner" means either
the person or persons owning the land or the person or persons owning
the timber.
   (c) "Fish and wildlife habitat improvements" means measures
designed to protect, maintain, or enhance fish and wildlife habitat
including, but not limited to, stream clearance, reestablishment of
desirable vegetation along stream channels and elsewhere, measures to
encourage habitat diversity, restoration of anadromous fisheries,
and forest road repair and upgrading that protect, maintain, or
enhance fish and wildlife habitat.
   (d) "Followup work" means forest resource improvement work
necessary to promote the survival of seed or seedlings planted, or
protection or enhancement of other work undertaken, as part of a
prior forest resource improvement project pursuant to this chapter.
   (e) "Forest land" means land at least 10 percent occupied by trees
of any size that are native to California, including native oaks, or
formerly having had that tree cover and not currently zoned for uses
incompatible with forest resource management.
   (f) "Forest land conservation measures" means measures designed to
protect, maintain, or enhance the forest resource system, including
soil and watershed values, diversity of forest species, and
protection of a forest stand from fire.  These measures include
thinning, shaded fuel breaks, and other land treatments or forest
resource improvement projects consistent with Section 4794.
   (g) "Forest land with demonstrated potential for improved forest
resource management" means forest land that could produce
significantly greater forest resource benefits if forest resource
improvement work was carried out and that is not managed for uses
incompatible with forest resource management.
   (h) "Forest resources" means those uses and values associated with
forest land, including fish, forage, recreation and aesthetics,
soils, timber, watershed, wilderness, and wildlife.
   (i) "Forest resource system" means the interdependent system of
air, water, solar energy, and forest resources, as defined by
subdivision (h).
   (j) "Forest resource improvement work" means the forest resource
improvement measures enumerated in Section 4794 for which assistance
is authorized pursuant to this chapter.
   (k) "Forest resource improvement project" means a project
undertaken pursuant to Section 4795 or a loan made pursuant to
Section 4796.
   (l) "Management plan" means a long-term forest and land management
plan submitted to the director pursuant to Section 4799.
   (m) "Person" includes:
   (1) Any private individual, organization, partnership, limited
liability company, or corporation.
   (2) Except for the purposes of Section 4795 and subdivision (a) of
Section 4796, any city, county, or district.
   (n) "Prevailing rate" means the average annual rate earned by the
state on moneys deposited in the Pooled Money Investment Account in
the General Fund.
   (o) "Reforestation" means planting of tree seedlings, cuttings, or
seed.
   (p) "Restocked" means stocking to the degree required by the Z'
berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, Chapter 8 (commencing with
Section 4511) of Part 2.
   (q) "Small business entity" means a business enterprise, including
a landowner, with five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) or less
annual gross revenue.
   (r) "Smaller nonindustrial landowners" means owners of 5,000 acres
or less of forest land.
   (s) "Uses incompatible with forest resource management" means uses
not listed in subdivision (h) of Section 51104 or Section 51111 of
the Government Code by the city or county in which the parcel subject
to a forest resource improvement project lies.
   (t) "Young growth stand improvement" means precommercial thinning
or weeding of young growth stands to provide more growing space and
release of young trees from competing vegetation.
  SEC. 4.  Section 4794 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4794.  (a) Agreements may be entered into and loans may be made by
the director pursuant to this chapter for all of the following
purposes:
   (1) Preparation of management plans for forest land.
   (2) Site preparation.
   (3) Planting and costs of seeds and seedlings.
   (4) Young growth stand improvement.
   (5) Forest land conservation measures.
   (6) Fish and wildlife habitat improvement.
   (7) Followup work.
   Consistent with this section, the director shall prepare, and
submit to the board for its review and approval, guidelines further
specifying the scope of forest resource improvement work for which
agreements may be entered into or loans made pursuant to this
chapter.
   (b) Proposed forest resource improvement projects may combine work
described in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, of subdivision (a).
Projects shall include work described in paragraphs (1) to (7),
inclusive, of subdivision (a) to be eligible for a cost-sharing
agreement signed pursuant to Section 4795 or a loan made pursuant to
Section 4796.
   (c) Projects for forest resource improvement subsequent to
harvesting subject to the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973,
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2, shall not be
eligible for agreements executed pursuant to Section 4795 or loans
made pursuant to Section 4796 of this chapter unless either of the
following occur:
   (1) The land has been restocked and the established forest growth
has subsequently been adversely affected by fire, wind, flood,
insects, disease, or other natural causes.
   (2) The work to be undertaken is not otherwise required to be
carried out pursuant to the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of
1973, Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2.
  SEC. 5.  Section 4799.01 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4799.01.  (a) When allocating available funds among projects
proposed pursuant to this chapter, the director shall select those
projects that, in the judgment of the director, produce the greatest
public benefit, giving consideration to both of the following
factors:
   (1) The need for and potential benefits of forest resource
establishment or improvement were the project to be undertaken.
   (2) The need for and potential benefits to long-term production,
maintenance, and enhancement of the forest resource system resulting
from forest land conservation measures, fish and wildlife habitat
improvements, or other work.
   (b) The director shall give increased preference to projects to
the extent that the project applies to forest land that has been
substantially damaged by fire, flood, insects, disease, or other
natural causes within 36 months of submission of an application
pursuant to this chapter.
   (c) The director shall also give preference to projects to the
extent that each of the following factors are present:
   (1) The project involves a substantial amount of followup work.
   (2) The project or other actions of the landowner would increase
recreational opportunities for the public.
   (3) The forest land to which the project applies is equivalent to
site quality III or better.
   (4) The project would provide relatively more employment
opportunities than other proposed projects.
   (5) The project is located in a county with high unemployment.
   (6) A small business entity will carry out the proposed project.
   (d) Consistent with the criteria set forth in subdivisions (a),
(b), and (c), the director shall prepare and submit to the board
proposed guidelines further specifying the criteria for evaluation
and approval of forest resource improvement projects.  The board
shall review, approve, or amend the guidelines that the director
shall follow when carrying out this chapter.
   (e) The director shall establish, in consultation with interested
persons or agencies and with the review and approval of the board,
procedures for the review of proposed forest resource improvement
projects.  Those procedures shall insure that department specialists
and other specialists in the areas of water quality, erosion control,
and fish and wildlife protection are integrated into the review of
proposed forest resource improvement projects.
   (f) No allocation of funds pursuant to this chapter shall, in any
fiscal year, exceed the total amount expended during the 1999-2000
fiscal year until the completion, review, and final approval by the
board of an updated management plan for the Jackson Demonstration
State Forest that complies with applicable state and federal law.
